LINEAR AND NONLINEAR DYNAMICS OF FREE LIQUID FILMS.

In order to understand the stability and the dynamics of free aqueous films, we develop a hydrodynamic model describing the fluid motion in the film with appropriate boundary conditions. The linear stability analysis provides stability criteria for the two modes of vibration of the film: the bending mode end the squeezing mode (the latter leading eventually to film rupture). Using time and length scales given by the linear analysis, we perform a nonlinear stability analysis in the simplified case of a film with tangentially immobile surfaces. It leads to a nonlinear evolution equation showing an acceleration of the rupture process.SCOPUS: ar.j